Windhoek
Ahmad: After the fun, games and a near pick pocketing in Cape Town we left South Africa via Intercape, a cheapish bus service that runs between most of what was Rhodesia. Intercape in southern Africa is reliable, relatively comfortable and affordable, definitely the way to travel on a budget. If anyone does feel the pressing need to cross the African continent I would recommend using Intercape, taking a good book, ear plugs a warm blanket as well as swim wear (the temperature on the bus is either arctic or sweltering.
The bus between Cape Town and Windhoek (pronounced ‘Vindhook’) took 20 Hours. We got to the Namibian border to discover that the border post is normally closed at the time of year as flash floods are common (nice one Intercape). Luckily we managed to get through okay and arrived safely in Windhoek. We stayed at a place (I shit you not) called Cardboard Box.
Cardboard box was actually quite nice; it had a pool table, bar, restaurant, kitchen as well as a pool. [One thing to note here, we’ve been staying in the cheapest accommodation available wherever we have been, now most hostels in southern Africa all seem to have a swimming pool as standard.] Beer was cheapish and so we asked at the hostel about some activities for 2 days as we were moving quite swiftly to Zambia and already had our next bus booked. The response was less than good. You can do safari based activities for a minimum of 3 days but that’s it. As it was, we explored Windhoek, spotted the same chain stores and tourist crap that they sell across South Africa in various markets and relaxed a while.
The hostel had 3 very nice dogs, including one with 3 legs (the dog had a leg shot off by a policeman a couple of years before) which were always pleasantly underfoot.
Windhoek is definitely not somewhere I would want to be for a long time. We visited one of the oldest buildings in the country (which it turns out looked like it was designed in the late 60’s) and various other bits. If Milton Keynes is the kind of place you like to relax in, then Windhoek is definitely for you (Just add some more crime). It’s un-surprising to learn that we moved swiftly to Victoria Falls (Livingstone) in Zambia.
To read the previous blog post (South Africa) click here